1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven equipped with a hood function, and more particularly, to a combination hood microwave oven equipped with an air curtain function of preventing polluted air generated from cooking from diffusing into a room.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, a combination hood microwave oven (over the range), which is installed over an oven range, is a combination home appliance equipped with a cooking function using a microwave and a function of discharging polluted air generated from the oven range on cooking outside a room or purifying the polluted air to circulate in the room.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a combination hood microwave oven installed over an oven range according to a related art, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a combination hood microwave oven according to a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a combination hood microwave oven according to a related art is installed at an upper wall 132 of a room over an oven range 102 to perform a function of discharging polluted air generated from cooking in the oven range 102 as well as a cooking function. The combination hood microwave oven 104 is installed to communicate with a discharge passage 106 to discharge the polluted air outside the room.
Such a combination hood microwave oven 104, as shown in FIG. 2, consists of a cabinet 110 having a predetermined cavity inside, an electronic device unit 114 installed at one side in the cabinet 110 and having a magnetron 112 to generate an electromagnetic wave, and a cooking room 118 provided with a rotational tray 116 on which food is placed to be cooked using the electromagnetic wave generated from the magnetron 112.
An air passage 120, through which air passes, is provided within the cabinet 110. An inlet opening 122, via which the polluted air generated from the oven range on cooking is sucked, is formed at a bottom of the cabinet 110. An outlet opening 124, via which the air having passed through the air passage 120 is discharged outside, is formed at a top of the cabinet 110. And, a dual-intake sirocco fan 126 generating a suction force is installed at one side of the outlet opening 124.
The outlet opening 124 is connected to the discharge passage 106 via an air duct 130 so that the polluted air discharged through the outlet opening 124 passes through the air duct 130 to be discharged via the discharge passage 106.
An operation of the related art combination hood microwave oven is explained as follows.
In cooking using the microwave oven 104, a user opens a door (not indicated by a reference designation) to place food on the rotational tray 116 inside the cooking room 118. Once a cooking button is pressed, the rotational tray 116 rotates together with the food and, simultaneously, the electromagnetic wave is generated from the magnetron 112 to radiate inside the cooking room 118 for performing the function of cooking the food.
Meanwhile, when cooking is performed using the oven range 102 installed under the microwave oven 104, the user presses a hood operation button (not shown in the drawing). The dual-intake sirocco fan 126 is then driven to generate the suction force to suck the polluted air including hot, smelling, or humid air via the inlet opening 122 at the bottom of the cabinet 110. The sucked air passes through the air passage 120 provided within the cabinet 110 to be discharged outside the cabinet 110 via the outlet opening at the top of the cabinet 110. The air discharged via the outlet opening 124 is then discharged outside the room via the discharge duct 130 and the discharge passage 106 provided in the wall.
However, in the related art combination hood microwave oven, an area of the inlet opening 122, as shown in FIG. 3, is limited to be smaller than a cooking area of the oven range 102. Hence, a portion of the polluted air including the hot, smelling, or humid air produced from the oven range 102 fails to be sucked into the cabinet via the inlet opening 122 but diffuses into the room to pollute the room air and to cause unpleasantness.